LESSON 6 TEACHER’S GUIDE
A Winning Combination
by Jim Brissette
Fountas-Pinnell Level X
Realistic Fiction
Selection Summary
Bobby plays basketball and plays in the orchestra. He has a problem
when an important game and an important concert are scheduled for
the same night. The problem is solved and Bobby does well at both
the game and the concert.
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
Number of Words: 2,436
• Realistic fiction
• Multiple story lines: Bobby and the basketball team, Bobby and the orchestra, Bobby and
his sister, Bobby and Wayne
• Chronological sequence of events
• School activities; orchestra and basketball
• Friendship, sibling relationship
• People can have more than one interest.
• Compromise and working together helps solve problems.
• Multiple characters revealed by realistic dialogue and actions.
• First person narrator uses descriptive details
• Figurative language: like a blindside pick
• Many instances of complex sentences
• Sentences with multiple items in a series
• Descriptive words (adjectives and adverbs): phenomenal, amazement
• Multiple-meaning words: measures, sharp
• Multisyllable words: orchestra, periodic
• Musical terms: timpani, mallets
• Color illustrations
• 16 pages of text with illustrations on most pages
• Table of contents
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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A Winning Combination
by Jim Brissette
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of basketball to visualize the story. Build interest
by asking questions such as the following: Which school activity would you like better,
basketball or orchestra? Do you think you could participate in two school activities?
Read the title and author and talk about the cover photograph. Tell students that the
selection is realistic fiction and explain that it takes place during present time and
the events could actually happen in real life.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 2: Point out the table of contents. Suggested language: Turn to page 2.
Look at the table of contents. What do you think this selection is about? Which
page tells about Wayne’s big idea?
Page 3: Draw students’ attention to the illustration. Explain that the story is told
in the first person, by a character named Bobby. Wayne is his best friend.
Page 5: Explain that Bobby plays basketball and plays in the orchestra. Read the
chapter title “Double Trouble.” Read the first sentence where Bobby worries.
Ask: What kind of expression does Bobby have? When thoughts linger, what
do they do?
Page 11: Read aloud the last sentence on the page. Ask: If you have a flair for
something, do you have a talent for it, or are you bad at it?
Now go back to the beginning and read to find out how Bobby solves his problem.
Target Vocabulary
berate – to angrily lecture
someone, p. 7
brainwashed – pressured to
change beliefs against a
person’s will, p. 4
flair – a display of stylish skill,
p. 11
Grade 6
fundamental – basic p. 12
gloat – brag about success or to
display selfish satisfaction, p. 6
lingered – remained somewhere
for a while longer, p. 5
phenomenal – extraordinary or
remarkable, p. 4
2
reserve – something that is
saved for future use, p. 17
savor – appreciate fully; enjoy or
relish, p. 8
showdown – a decisive, often
final, contest or battle between
two rivals, p. 8
Lesson 6: A Winning Combination
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Analyze/Evaluate Strategy
and to think
carefully about the text to form opinions about Bobby and Wayne as they read.
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: How did Bobby solve his problem? Who helped him? How?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Bobby plays basketball and plays
in the orchestra.
• It is possible for people to be
interested in more than one
activity.
• The author includes many
descriptions to help readers
visualize the story.
• Compromise and working
together help people solve
problems.
• The author includes chapter
heads to help readers think
about what might happen next.
• Good friends help each other in
times of trouble.
• The author writes the selection
in chronological order so that
the reader can understand the
history.
• The game and concert are
scheduled for the same night.
• Bobby wants to play well in the
game and in the orchestra.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to work in partners and choose a passage from the text to
demonstrate pausing and phrasing during reading. Remind students to pause after
punctuation by taking short breaths after commas and stopping after periods and
questions marks.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Remind students that compound words are made up of two
smaller words that make a new word. For example, the word brainwashed on page 4
means “intensive, forcible indoctrination.” Showdown on page 8 is “an event . . . that
forces an issue to a conclusion.” The compound word blindside on page 8 means “to
hit or attack on or from the blind side.”
Grade 6
3
Lesson 6: A Winning Combination
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 6.8.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s
Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding
of the comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Conclusions and Generalizations
Remind students to use details from
the text and what they already know to draw conclusions and make generalizations.
Model how add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
Wayne talked to the coach and suggested a solution to the scheduling
conflict. This detail and others show that Bobby and Wayne do nice
things for each other. Good friends help each other so, a conclusion is
that Bobby and Wayne are good friends.
Practice the Skill
Encourage students to share their examples of other selections where they can draw
conclusions about people who help each other.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.
Assessment Prompts
• What is the selection mainly about?
• The reader can predict at the end of the selection that the narrator will probably
______________________________________________________________.
• What are two sentences in the first part of the book that support the idea that Bobby
wants to play in the orchestra and play basketball?
Grade 6
4
Lesson 6: A Winning Combination
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English Language Development
Reading Support Make sure the text matches the student’s reading level. Lanaugage
and content should be accessible with regular teaching support.
Idioms The story includes some idioms that might be unfamiliar. Explain the meaning of
expressions such as get your head out of the clouds (page 6). Also, the term sharp when
referring to music might be confusing to English learners and may need to be explained.
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: Who asks Bobby for a
quarter?
Speaker 1: Why does Wayne ask Bobby
for a quarter?
Speaker 1: How does Wayne help
Bobby with his problem?
Speaker 2: Wayne
Speaker 2: He wants a drink.
Speaker 1: What sport does Bobby
play?
Speaker 1: What is Bobby worried
about?
Speaker 2: Wayne suggests a plan
to the coach.
Speaker 2: basketball
Speaker 2: The game and the orchestra
concert are on the same day.
Speaker 1: What other activity does
Bobby like?
Speaker 2: orchestra
Speaker 1: How do the coach and
the orchestra director work to
solve the problem?
Speaker 2: They both agree to
move the start times so that
everyone can attend both events.
Lesson 6
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 6.8
Date
Critical Thinking
A Winning Combination
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text Why does Mrs. Fraser tell Bobby to get his
“head out of the clouds”?
Bobby is daydreaming.
2. Think within the text Why does Bobby say it’s difficult to combine
music and basketball at his school?
His peers in both areas make fun of his other interests.
3. Think beyond the text What do you think makes Bobby and Wayne
such good friends?
I think Bobby and Wayne are opposites in many ways but that
their differences balance each other.
4. Think about the text What elements of A Winning Combination make
it realistic fiction?
The characters are typical students with typical problems. The
teachers support students when they do well and remind them to get
on track when they get distracted.
Making Connections What other stories have you read that show a strong,
positive friendship? Compare one of these stories to A Winning Combination.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
10
Critical Thinking
Grade 6, Unit 2: Common Ground
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Grade 6
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Lesson 6: A Winning Combination
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First Pass
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Name
Date
A Winning Combination
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
The coach and the orchestra director worked together to solve Bobby’s
problem. Do you think they found a good solution? Why or why not? Could
this solution help other students work out scheduling conflicts in the future?
What suggestions would you offer to help students who want to participate
in two school activities?
Grade 6
6
Lesson 6: A Winning Combination
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Lesson 6
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 6.8
Date
Critical Thinking
A Winning Combination
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text Why does Mrs. Fraser tell Bobby to get his
“head out of the clouds”?
2. Think within the text Why does Bobby say it’s difficult to combine
music and basketball at his school?
3. Think beyond the text What do you think makes Bobby and Wayne
such good friends?
4. Think about the text What elements of A Winning Combination make
it realistic fiction?
Making Connections What other stories have you read that show a strong,
positive friendship? Compare one of these stories to A Winning Combination.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 6
7
Lesson 6: A Winning Combination
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Student
Lesson 6
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 6.12
A Winning Combination • LEVEL X
page
5
Selection Text
A Winning Combination
Running Record Form
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
I tried to focus on science that Monday morning, but thoughts
about the big game coming up on Friday lingered in the back
of my mind. It was the game of the year against Jackson, our
biggest rivals. They’d beaten us five years in a row. This year
Jackson was undefeated and favored to win the state title.
To make matters worse, no sooner had I managed to stop
worrying about the game, than I started worrying about the
holiday concert on Friday night.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/84 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 6
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414482
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
Lesson 6: A Winning Combination
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